Fastest way to season firewood?

[Billy_Bob]

Instead of splitting into wedges, split into 1" or 2" flat pieces.

And then stack so air can get around wood pieces. Cover top, but open sides of wood pile.

Freezing temperatures will help to dry out wood.

 

[Steve NW WI]

A holzhausen is a cylinder not a cone, 7' height and 7' diameter, 269 and some change cubic feet was the size of this one. How hard is that to figure out? Jeesh mang. You are close, I am 6'2" and can easily reach the edge of the 7' stack from the ground. Don't know about yuse over there but we have these things called ladders, hence my buddy helping. Once the stack reached 5' it was difficult to reach the center and keep the cylindrical shape, ladder was used to climb up and continue stacking as one of us acted as courier of pieces for the other to stack. Its obvious that you previously constructed some sort of pile rather than a true holzhausen, maybe you should go research it a bit and get back to us. The premise of using this method is airflow is increased over just piling or stacking in rows with airspace. It takes time to construct properly but can reduce the amount of time needed for drying. Have you a better suggestion for the OP? Please enlighten us.

I bow to your hh knowliedge, but you still ain't catchin me spending a day makin one when I can stack 3x as much in rows in the same time. If I want round stacks of wood, I'll fill the old corn crib. Should hold 7 cords stacked 6' high.

 

[stihlrookie]

I bow to your hh knowliedge, but you still ain't catchin me spending a day makin one when I can stack 3x as much in rows in the same time. If I want round stacks of wood, I'll fill the old corn crib. Should hold 7 cords stacked 6' high.

I will admit, I would not use this method myself. My buddy was the one who got himself in trouble with unseasoned firewood for this winter so we experimented with decent results, he has been burning from this stack for about a month now. I am with logbutcher on this, cut at least 1 season ahead of time and avoid this problem. As far as splitting into small pieces, 1-2" slabs, I would advise against that, burn time will be severely diminished with that size wood.

I have had good results covering single rows of unseasoned wood with clear plastic, need sun for this to work well though. The plastic should cover the stack on all sides and be held above the stack to allow condensation that escapes the wood to run off the plastic. I used some pvc pipe to hold the plastic off my stacks and gave it some slope so the condensation would run off. Again sunshine is needed for this method to work best.

 

[Whitespider]

Silly thread...

 

[nixon]

^^ don't read it then :smile2:

 

[Whitespider]

I didn't say it wasn't entertaining... :smile2:

 

[JRepairsK70e]

why dont we all sit in a circle ,hold hands ,and pray for sunshine ,cuz it seems to be the common denominator for gettin wood seasoned .... oh and if you blow on it, that will speed up the process

 

[tawilson]

I thought that was a figure of speech.

 

[Eric Modell]

Since I am a green wood burner I can make a comment or Two.

The freezing weather will pull out a lot of moisture.

We store our wood in the house and try not to bring the wood in wet, wet from rain. snow is not much of a problem if you brush if off first.

You can always stack if by the stove for a day or two it helps a lot.

 

[kilohertz]

Well holy cow revive an old thread award to me... I figure no point in starting a new thread....

Anyway, I have just brought home 4, 18' flat deck trailer loads of fir, cut this past May, laying in piles full length, which I traded for some excavator work. While I had the machine on site I cut the logs in half and hauled them home in about 20-22' lengths. They were checking on the ends already, and I have now cut them all up ready to split. We have had a hot summer here with no rain for 3 months...the wood is out in the driveway in 16-20" lengths right next to the wood shed.

So my question is, do you think it would dry faster left in the sun and air/wind etc. whole, or split and stacked in the shed, which is just an open ended car cover type thing, metal frame, tarp over the top, about 8' high in the center but would then be in the shade but still have some air movement. Supposed to continue warm, 24-28C for the next few weeks with just a chance of showers. I know it would be best to split it and leave in the sun but I'm not moving it yet again. Splitter is in the wood shed.

It's all I have for this year so need it for October, thankfully I brought home enough for the next few years so next year won't be a problem.

Thanks!!

 

[Erik B]

Well holy cow revive an old thread award to me... I figure no point in starting a new thread....

Anyway, I have just brought home 4, 18' flat deck trailer loads of fir, cut this past May, laying in piles full length, which I traded for some excavator work. While I had the machine on site I cut the logs in half and hauled them home in about 20-22' lengths. They were checking on the ends already, and I have now cut them all up ready to split. We have had a hot summer here with no rain for 3 months...the wood is out in the driveway in 16-20" lengths right next to the wood shed.

So my question is, do you think it would dry faster left in the sun and air/wind etc. whole, or split and stacked in the shed, which is just an open ended car cover type thing, metal frame, tarp over the top, about 8' high in the center but would then be in the shade but still have some air movement. Supposed to continue warm, 24-28C for the next few weeks with just a chance of showers. I know it would be best to split it and leave in the sun but I'm not moving it yet again. Splitter is in the wood shed.

It's all I have for this year so need it for October, thankfully I brought home enough for the next few years so next year won't be a problem.

Thanks!!

@kilohertz Welcome to the site. It would be best to get that wood split and stacked as soon as possible. Even under a bit of cover like you described, it will dry faster once it is split.
We love pics of anything related to firewood...saws, splitters, wood stacks, trailers, tractors...you get the idea.

 

[kilohertz]

Thanks for the welcome Erik! Much appreciated.
OKay, well you asked for it... Some pictures of my setup and the wood...this is my first time and I don't see a preview button here so not sure if this is the way to post pics...we'll see. Sorry if the size is wrong....can't find a "how to post pictures" thread.

 

[kilohertz]

OKay well it worked!! YEah.

I think I'll have to start a separate thread about my 3 phase VFD 7.5 HP splitter I made a few years back...

Cheers

 

[kilohertz]

And I know this is cheating but.....it's so much nicer cutting wood off the ground....

 

[Big_Eddy]

Short answer - wood dries faster after it is split. Best drying would be out in the sun spread out loosely on a hard surface.
Split and stacked in a shed with cover and good air flow is second best.
Blocks on the ground - not so good.

If you need it this fall - split it half the size you would normally - that will reduce the drying time ~4x.

 

[Erik B]

And I know this is cheating but.....it's so much nicer cutting wood off the ground....

View attachment 600455

Yup, that is cheating or you could call it working smarter

 

[LondonNeil]

Split it small, and top cover in a loose stack or pile.
In your position I'd be tempted to try the hillbilly solar kiln for a bit, first month's worth of wood, or 2. Just use pallet wrap, leave a few holes to let dampness out, pile on a pallet to keep off the ground and allow air in

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Split it small, and top cover in a loose stack or pile.

pile on a pallet to keep off the ground and allow air in

Yes, your ideas work quite well, excellent actually.

 

[LondonNeil]

Do you leave it wrapped the whole time, or unwrap at some point?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

The netting stays on.